Propelling apparatus for boats.



G. R. NAPIER.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1910.

1,006,1 18. Patented 001. 17, 1911.

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APPLIOATION FILED SEPTJ, 1910.

Patented 0013. 17, 1911.

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G. R. NAPIER.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

7 APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1910.

1,006,118. Patented 001. 17, 1911.

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GEORGE E. NAPIER, OF MACON, GEORGIA.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 1, 1910. Serial No. 579,983.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. NAPIER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Ma-- con, in the county ofBibb and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and use-f fulImprovements in Propelllng Apparatus for Boats; and I do declare thefollowingto be a full, clear, and exact description of; the invention,such as will enable others,

skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in;

propelling devices for boats.

One object of the invention is to provide:

an improved'construction and arrangement;

of propelling devices and means whereby the; same are operated to exerta lifting iLClllOIli on the boat simultaneously with the propellingaction whereby the head resistance to} the boat is reduced to a minimumand the forward movement greatly accelerated.

Another object is to provide a propelling mechanism of this characterwhich may be,

applied to both power and manually operated boats.

view, the invention consists of certain novel; features of construction,combinatlon and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out 1n the of the ribs 2 by means of a series ofpivot appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a side view of a boat showingthe appli-i cation of my improved propelllng mechanism arranged formanual operation; F1g. 2 1 is a top plan View of the same; Flg. 3 1s a.-cross sectional view of the same on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sideView of a boat showing the application of the lnventlon' with the partsconstructed and arranged for operation by suitably applied power, partsof the boat being broken away to illustrate the application of thepower; Flg. 5 1s 1 an enlarged top plan view of the central portion ofthe boat and the motor shown in Fig. 4:; Fig. 6 is an enlarged side viewof one a of the propelling blades and its supporting and operating bar;Fig. 7 1s a top plan view of one of the propelling blades or paddles; I

and, Fig. 8 is a front view of one of the supporting and operating barsfor the blades or paddles.

In the embodiment of the invention I provide a plurality of hydroplanepropelllng blades or paddles 1, which are preferably constructed in theform of sllghtly curved oblong or rectangular shaped blades, to theupper side of which are secured upwardly pro ecting transverselydisposed ribs 2, the forward ends of which project a short dis tancebeyond the forward edges of the blades. as the blades and said ribstaper or are inclined from the front toward the rear end of the same. Inthe ribs 2 near the front edges of the blades are formed a series ofalined pivot holes 3 with which are pivotally engaged laterallyprojecting studs 4 formed on the bifurcated lower ends of blade or planesupporting and operating bars 5 which are arranged adjacent the oppositesides of the boat andare slidably mounted in suitable guides 6 securedto the sides of the boat at its upper edge and between pairs of guiderollers 7 revolubly mounted on the Patented Oct. 1'7, 1911.

The ribs 2 have the same curvature sides of the boat near the water lineas i shown.

The bars 5 have formed on their upper ends right angularly projectinglugs 8 to which are connected the upper ends of plane 0 or bladeretracting rods 9 in which are ar- With the foregoing and other ob ectsin:

ranged coiled retracting springs 10, the

pressure of which is exerted to swing the rear edges of the blades orplanes downwardly. The lower ends of the rods 9 are adjustably connectedto the forward ends holes 11 formed in said ends of the ribs. By meansof the adjustable connections be tween the ribs 2 of the planes orblades and the operating bars 5. and rods 9 the ratio of leveragebetween the pressure of the water and the tension of the springs may bechanged or adjusted. On the lower ends of the supporting and operatingbars 5 of the blades are formed forwardly and rearwardly projectingupwardly inclined stop lugs 12 which are provided to limit the pivotalor swinging movement of the blades when the latter are operated.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the

boat is shown as being equipped with four cured to the opposite sides ofthe boat. On the opposite ends of the levers 13 are formed slotted heads15 which are engaged with the connecting studs 16 secured to and projecting from the sides of the supporting and operating bars 5 as shown.Formed on or secured to the levers or walking beams 13 are centrallydisposed upwardly projecting operating handles 17 the upper ends ofwhich project above the upper edge or gunwale of the boat and are inposition to be grasped by the operator whereby the levers 13 may berocked, thus reciprocating the blade or plane supporting and operatingbars 5 which will impart a vertical or up and down movement to theblades or planes 2 which movement of the blades will propel the boat. Inthus propelling the boat the walking beams or levers 17 are operated orrocked in opposite directions so that when the front plane or blade onone side of the boat is descending, the other plane on the same side ofthe boat is ascending, and at the same time, on the opposite side of theboat the front plane is ascending while the rear plane is descending.The effect of this operation will be to keep the boat on an even keeland to avoid any side thrusts. The tendency of the springs 10 in therods 9 is to keep the rear edge of each planelower than the front edge,but when the plane is forced to descend the action of the water thereonwill have the effect of stretching the spring until the plane tips up atthe rear edge until it reaches a point where the upward pressure of thewater will be equal to the resisting pull of the spring. When a plane orblade has reached its lowest point and the direction of its movement isreversed, the spring immediately acts to automatically pull the forwardedge of the plane upwardly.

Assuming that the boat is moving in a forward direction at a fixed rateof speed with the walking beams in a horizontal and fixed position, theneach of the planes will offer the same resistance to the forward mo tionof the boat and will exert the same pressure upwardly, provided thetension of the springs is the same. If, then, the walking beams bereleased and a certain amount of force applied thereto so as to causeone of the planes to descend, it will automatically feather, tipping upat the rear edge and driving the boat forward. The up-going plane willbe tilted in the opposite direction so that the pressure of the waterwill be exerted downwardly, the water flowing from the blade andimparting a forward motion thereto.

In Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, the walking beams or levers 13 areshown as being fixedly mounted on the outer ends of short crank shafts18 which are revolubly mounted in suitable bearing sleeves arof asuitable motor 26 which is here shown as a gas engine. By thusconnecting the walking beams or levers 13 with the motor, said leverswill be actuated and the motion thereof imparted to the blade supportingand operating bars, thus reciprocating the propelling planes or bladesin the manner hereinbefore described. By operating the planes or bladesin the manner described, they will exert a lifting effect on the boatduring the descending stroke thus propelling the vessel in a forwarddirection at the same time that it is lifted. In thus lifting the boatthe same will be raised almost if not entirely out of the water, therebyreducing the head resistance and friction to a minimum. As herein shownand described the principle involved in my invention may be applied toboth manually and power operated boats and it will also be understoodthat the invention may be applied to boats or vessels of any size andstyle.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the construction and operation of the invention will beunderstood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A propelling mechanism for boats comprising vertically disposedslidably mounted bars having forked lower ends and provided at theextremities of the forks with oppositely disposed upwardly inclined stoplugs, propelling blades pivoted to said forked ends and adapted to swingagainst said lugs, means for reciprocating said bars, and means fortilting the blades as the bars are reciprocated.

2. A propelling mechanism for boats comprising a plurality of propellingblades, vertically disposed supporting bars pivotally connected at theirlower ends to said blades, means whereby said bars are slidablyconnected to the sides of the boat, spring blade retracting rodsconnected at their lower ends to the forward edges of said blades and attheir upper ends to said bars whereby when the latter are forceddownwardly the rear ends of the blades will be swung upwardly by thepressure of the water against the spring pressure of the rods, andwhereby when said bars are drawn upwardly, said spring rods will movethe blades downwardly or in a reverse direction, and means whereby saidbars and blades are reciprocated.

3. In a propelling mechanism for boats, a series of vertical bladeoperating bars slidably mounted on the opposite sides of the boat, aseries of propelling blades pivotally connected to the lower ends ofsaid bars, blade retracting rods connected to the forward edges of saidblades and to the upper ends of said bars, retracting springs arrangedin said rods, a pair of walking beams pivotally mounted on the oppositesides of the boat and connected at their outer ends to said bladepropelling bars, and means whereby power is applied to said walkingbeams for the purpose of reciprocating said bars and propelling blades.

4:. In a propelling mechanism for boats, a series of vertical bladeoperating bars slidably mounted on the opposite sides of the boat, aseries of propelling blades pivotally connected to the lower ends ofsaid bars, blade retracting rods connected to the forward edges of saidblades and to the upper ends of said bars, retracting springs arrangedin said rods, a pair of walking beams pivotally mounted on the oppositesides of the boat and connected at their outer ends to said bladepropelling bars, and handles arranged on said walking beams whereby thesame may be manually operated to reciprocate said bars and propellingblades.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE R. NAPIER.

Witnesses C. E. HARRIS, J. E. KING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

